Picture of the Month
Liebher 360 ton haul pac
Upcoming Events
Coso Field Trip
Steve Mobley will lead a trip to the Cosos on Sunday, October 23rd. The Cosos have geodes, agate, jasper, apache tears and psilomelane. There is some hiking involved, perhaps a mile or so round trip. The road in is only a few miles but a little sandy in a few spots. Four wheel and good ground clearance is preferable. A small rake, rock pick, water, lunch sunscreen, and whatever tools you would like to bring but not much is needed as far as tools. Plan to bring lunch with you because it will be a hike back to the vehicles. Should be fun!!
Ray Ramirez
Other Club Events
October 2011
The Sierra Pelona Club is leading a trip for Ballarat Marble on Oct 22nd
http://www.sierrapelona.com
November 2011
5-6—LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA: 10th annual show; Palmdale Gem & Mineral Club; Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, Van Dam Pavilion, 2551 W. Ave. H; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; free admission; gemstones, minerals, beads, lapidary, jewelry, display supplies, dinosaur program with Richard Wade, petrified wood programs with Walton Wright, kids’ scavenger hunt, silent auction, demonstrations, raffle; contact Cheri George, 2255 W. Avenue O, Palmdale, CA 93551, (562) 243-8470, Email: lizardwoman3@yahoo.com, Website: www.palmdalegemandmineral.com
5-6—RIDGECREST, CALIFORNIA: 56th annual show; Indian Wells Gem & Mineral Society; Desert Empire Fairgrounds, Mesquite Hall, 520 S. Richmond Rd.; Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-5; free admission; contact John DeRosa, (760) 375-7905, Email: IndianWellsGems@hotmail.com, Website: www.indianwells.weebly.com
December 2011
3-4 – BARSTOW, CA: Mojave Desert Gem & Mineral Society, Barstow Community Center, 841 S. Barstow Road, Hours: 10 – 5 daily, contact Gene Haines, (760) 256-0595, Email: vhaines@san.rr.com, Website: www.mdgms.org
Editor’s Note: The November events descriptions were plagiarized from the SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY LAPIDARY SOCIETY’s Newsletter, the Slab & Gab
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SanJoaquinValleyLapidarySociety
These shows are also listed at http://www.cfmsinc.org/
Mystery Mineral
 
This Cerro Gordo mineral is Leadhillite, which has a composition of Pb4SO4(CO3)2(OH)2.
Recent Events
2011 LONE PINE FILM FESTIVAL
We have been doing our club booth at the Film Festival for 10 plus years.
Again we have made new "rock hound" friends and got reacquainted with old ones. We were told by kids and their parents that our booth was the most fun of all the booths. Young kids have surprised us again by their knowledge and enthusiasm for "ROCKS ".
All of them enjoy our club spinning wheel and keep coming back for more. Our free rocks, shells, glass and crystals receive many comments such as "You mean these are all free"? No one leaves our booth unhappy and that has become our unwritten motto.
Every time a club member works at our booth for the first time, they are nervous and apprehensive and fifteen minutes later they are laughing and having fun with the kids and the parents, who are happy to see their children having their own good time. The kids are great and their patience is remarkable. They also like to talk "ROCKS". If nothing else in all these years I have found that the kids who attend the Film Festival are the nicest kids that I have ever been around and I look forward to doing this every year.
This year Debbie and Audrey worked the booth for the first time and they had a good time. They did great!! Thank you so much you guys. We also had help from Steve and Mine, who are naturals at this. Dana worked the booth in the afternoon, too. Linda, Ray, BJ and Jesse also stopped by the booth. Thanks to you guys, too. Don, Steve, and Mike were so helpful at tearing down the booth and I don't know what we would do without them. Thanks to you big strong men. Jim and Francis are grateful.
We had many vendors this year and the artisans and crafters out did themselves again. Jim and I had our once a year funnel cake. YUM! YUM! Good food, good people, and good weather made for a very good time. If you couldn't make this year, you owe it to yourselves to come next year and have a great time.
Jackie Grandgeorge
Another Film Festival has come and gone.
Thank you, Jim and Jackie, for the success of our club booth. There are a lot of happy kids in Lone Pine because of your efforts.
Francis Pedneau
BLACK ROCK MINE FIELDTRIP
We had eight club members for our trip to the Black Rock Mine on Saturday, September 24th. We explored the mine ruins scattered all across the hills and found garnet and calcite specimens in the tailings from several of the mines. We never did find the elusive Rhodonite though, maybe next time. Although the trip was not very productive as far as specimens go we had great weather and a fun day exploring the area.
The following day six of us went on another trip headed up toward Tonopah for petrified wood and found quite a few nice pieces up to 25 pounds. The wood ranged in color from mainly browns, tans and white to orange, reds and black. This is a great spot for a future trip since there seems to be lots to find for everyone.
Ray Ramirez
Club members on the Black Rock Mine trip
Editorials
GEM AND MINERAL SHOWS
Gem and mineral shows are a great resource to learn about rocks and other facets of our hobby. Early in August, Francee and I visited members, Philip and Angela Beguhl in Golita, CA. During our trip we went to Nipoma Mesa, CA, where a cousin of Angela's owns a hundred acre orchard on which we were allowed to rock hound. What we were looking for was Nipomo Sagenite, a form of clear agate with needles of rutile crystals within the stone. Nipomo Sagenite is a prized stone and highly sought after. Whenever you are in an unfamiliar area looking for a rock that you have never hunted before, you will have, in the beginning, problems such as learning to recognize your quarry and to determine the area(s) on the property that will be most productive.
Samples of Nipomo Sagenite
This is where gem and mineral shows will be most helpful. In our experience almost all show dealers will be happy to answer your questions about rock hounding and everything connected to it. A dealer might even have a specimen of the material that you plan to look for. BUT, we did it backwards. The Nipomo show opened on Friday and we hounded on Thursday. Darn. Despite that we were able to find Sagenite, tube agate, jasper and petrified lemons. Philip made the find of the day. A beautiful clear agate loaded with rutile crystals. We attended the Nipomo show on Friday where we found a dealer who had a bucket full of rough Nipomo Sagenite. We now have some. At another dealer we found a new material from Indonesia that was called "Bumble Bee Jasper." Can you guess the colors? We put a slab of this material on the table of our September meeting and it was claimed by "Mister Lucky" Mike. My message here is "If you can attend some of the gem and mineral shows offered each year by CFMS clubs, take advantage of all the knowledge offered there."
To get show info, go to www.CFMSinc.organd click on shows. If your plans include being in one of these cities during show time try to attend.
From F and F
FIELD TRIPS
What is the best way to learn about our hobby? The reason we all belong to the LPG&MS – Field Trips. We live in a rock hounds paradise called Inyo County, where more than 160 mineral species can be found, and more are being discovered all the time. As a club we try to have at least 1 field trip a month, sometimes more. Once we had three. Our club has become known in the rock hound community for our outstanding field trips. People come from all over California and other states (even New York and Maryland) to attend our field trips. Our field trip chairman, Ray Ramirez, will be planning field trips for 2012. If any of you members have any suggestions for field trip locations please contact Ray.
Francis Pedneau
Our show is more than 6 months away and we need help. Do we have a club member who will take on the job of show advertising? If you are interested please call Francis @ 760-876-4319.
SHOP NIGHT
November 13th at 6:30 pm. 131 So. Jackson, Lone Pine.
We have a lot of 5 gallon buckets that are breaking down and they are full of your rocks. There will be a work party at the shop on Nov. 20th at 9:00 AM to transfer rocks from the old buckets to the new ones. Also, some general clean-up will be done if time permits. Bring gloves.
Francis Pedneau
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